


Red and Gold and The Colors of My Soul

by Curtissemily_38



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Identity Porn, M/M, Team Bonding, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-28
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2020-02-08 15:24:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18625975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Curtissemily_38/pseuds/Curtissemily_38
Summary: Having a secret identity isn't all that bad. It has it's benefits and it's downfalls. Tony gets to live his life as an eccentric billionaire engineer while also playing the hero in his free time. Everything goes well until a Norse God, a physicist with one hell of an anger problem, two assassins, and a man out of time have to band together to save the world.So maybe having a secret identity isn't that great after all.





	Red and Gold and The Colors of My Soul

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! So this chapter just recounts the events of Iron Man 2 real quick except with Tony keeping his secret identity instead. The next chapter will go over the Avengers with his secret identity and after that? I'm not all that sure yet. Stay tuned!

The overhead lights were glaringly bright. The air was still, and no one dared make a move. All pencil scratching had stopped, one camera flashed swiftly but no more followed. The tension in the air was palpable. The suspense was nearly overwhelming.

Sweat trickled down his back and _god hadn’t these people ever heard of air conditioning._ He swallowed thickly, casting a sideways glance at Rhodey who only a moment before had very firmly told him to stick to the cards. He fidgeted with his cufflink as he directed his gaze back towards his notes. All he needed to do now was read the words carefully typed out for him and move on. But… something deep inside him, something instinctive gave him pause.

This was a defining moment. The next few seconds would dictate the rest of his life. From how he acted in public to how he treated his personal relationships. Every little thing he’d do from here on out would be scrutinized down to the tiniest little detail. And boy wasn’t that just a lot riding on one little sentence.

He was nervous. Ideally not visibly so but that was the least of his worries right now. What would all this mean for the company? For his employees? His freedom? _Pepper?_ He knew they’d come out of this whole mess with their heads held high, because he’d made sure to surround himself with strong people. But the time in between, the time before everything settled, _there’s no telling what-_

A quiet cough came from the audience. A reporter Tony had met a couple times before- _what was his name? Eric? Aaron?-_ shifted in his chair.

“Mr. Stark?”

No more stalling.

“The truth is…”

***

_“I am Iron Man._ Really, Tones? Really?” Rhodey covered his face with his hands, letting out a groan. “Can you even imagine what would’ve happened if you’d said that?”

Tony sat down across from him, in a chair that was likely worth more than a small home in rural Ohio. The press conference had just ended a few minutes before and Tony had, begrudgingly, stuck to the cards.

“I know _I know_ but it just felt so right at the time. C’mon Rhodey! You of all people should know I’m terrible at keeping secrets. I probably won’t last a week with this one.”

“For now we’re all just lucky you have some sort of filter between your brain and your mouth. Don’t know where it was while we were in college but at least you’ve got it now.”

Rhodey’s phone started to ring and he stepped out to take the call. Probably some military official wanting to know more about the incident at Stark Industries.

_Body guard, yeah right._

Tony was exhausted to say the least. He’d only just dealt with Stane a few days ago and it’s been nonstop debriefings and company meetings and putting out fire after fire since then.

As soon as he was able to stay awake for more than a few seconds after the fight, Tony, Rhodey, and Pepper worked out a story on what had happened. Rhodey and Pepper had insisted Tony not disclose he was the one in the suit, probably thinking if he didn’t admit to being Iron Man he wouldn’t pursue the superhero lifestyle. Tony had been more hesitant, wanting more to admit that he was Iron Man. But if the two most important people in his life thought he should keep it quiet for now, then so be it.

They’d managed to convince those SHIELD people as well, so hats off to Pepper for coming up with a convincing story.

And that was that. Tony was still just Tony Stark, and Iron Man: a nameless superhero.

_What could go wrong?_

***

Six months pass with hardly an incident. Tony reinstates the Stark Expo and- _how cool would it have been to fly in in the suit-_ continues to make strides as his company starts to restructure around not building weapons. The stocks drop and then they rise and he makes Pepper CEO. He gets a new assistant that is too good to be true but he’ll figure her out eventually. Iron Man hasn’t made an appearance since that night at Stark Industries and it’s not for lack of want but simply for lack of need. It’s starting to look like Tony really has privatized world peace.

Some hot-headed suits from the white house give him shit about democracy and whatever, and he gets to make a fool of Justin Hammer in front of a live audience. The thought of someone knocking down his doors and taking his suits only _slightly_ causes him panic. He brushes it aside quickly. There are other things to worry about.

He’s replacing palladium cores left and right, his blood toxicity rising with no signs of slowing down. He takes his first vacation in two years.

Then Monaco happens, and it was times like that that made Tony wish he’d just come clean after the ordeal with Stane.

_Maybe this wasn’t the best idea,_ he thinks as his car flips in the air, the front end completely sheared off from the electrical whip. He manages to un-lodge himself from the car and barely escape attack after attack when he begins to wonder how he’ll get out of this without revealing his secret. Happy has the suitcase armor and god only knows if he’s on his way. Even if he shows up with the armor, Tony would have to put it on in front of millions of people. Not the best way to keep a secret. He _almost_ wished he actually had a body guard at that moment.

Following a solid hit to the head and his driving suit casually catching on fire, Tony finds himself backed into a corner. He's just about to accept his fate when a flash of black streaks across his vision.

Happy is _not_ fucking around.

Thankfully, his loyal driver manages to crash the Rolls-Royce into Vanko hard enough to knock him out and there's no need to suit up.

Time goes on, the toxicity in Tony’s blood continues to rise, and he makes more less than perfect choices.

His birthday party is an absolute disaster, at best. He goes in masquerading as Iron Man and ends up with his best friend taking a suit and the whole ordeal giving his secret identity a bad rap in the process. Not to mention thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to his mansion and probably fifteen lawsuits, at minimum.  At least he learns fast not to drink and pilot the suit.

He gets picked on by eye-patch boy and stabbed in the neck by his assistant- _oh she really was too good to be true-_ and put on house arrest until he sorts his affairs. Agent babysits him while he watches a lovely and not completely full of shit home video from his dad.

He re-discovers a new element. So he’s not dying anymore. Which is a good thing.

Hammer and Vanko try to pull a fast one at the expo and Iron Man makes his first real appearance to the public.

It’s fast and loud and over almost as soon as it started and yet it seemed to drag on forever. Drone after drone come at him without holding back and he has to perform some less-than-safe maneuvers. He and Rhodey make a pretty good team and puts an end to Ivan for good. There’s a minor scare with some self-destructing HammerDrones and Pepper needing a quick flight out of the expo. Tony handles it like a champ. He doesn’t feel like throwing up or passing out. Nope, not at all. The panic subsides quickly.

There’s a moment afterwards on the roof that Tony thinks he and Pepper could be something more. The air is hot and thick from the explosions and adrenaline is high and they’re so close he can smell her luxury perfume without even trying. They’re only a breath’s width apart but she pulls away at the last second, the stress of everything being too much to handle. She resigns as CEO.

Other than the mild rejection, everything turns out okay.

And wow did being Iron Man feel great. Being a hero, fighting for the people that couldn’t fight for themselves, it was unlike any feeling he’d ever experienced before. Tony was giddy: high on the thrill, on the satisfaction of doing something good. Iron Man’s debut was a huge success. The public loved him, couldn’t get enough of the red and gold.

The same could not be said for Tony Stark.

“Iron Man yes. Tony Stark… _no_?” Tony gaped at the file down in his hands. It took everything in him not to say _“how can you want me but also not want me?”_   He gave a little sniff and regained his composure. “You want my body guard. _My_ body guard.”

Nick Fury gave a single bob of his head. “Correct. We’d like Iron Man to join us with full disclosure of his identity. He'll be relieved from his duties at Stark Industries." He raised his chin and gave Tony a pointed look. "We have something big planned and we’ll need all the help we can get.”

Tony gave it a moment, and threw the file back on the table. He stood, turning to leave but not all the way, if only for the theatrics of it all. “Unfortunately I cannot relinquish him to you.” A deliberate pause. “ _However,_ I may be able to loan him to you from time to time.” He walked away without giving Fury time to answer.

Fury didn’t try to hide the smirk on his face.

Everything was going well.

Until it wasn’t.

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
